Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) is a stable and effective chemical mutagen. In this study, cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. “Shannong No. 5”) seeds were treated by 1% EMS for 12 h, 24 h and 48 h to optimize EMS mutagenesis and determined median lethal dose of EMS (1% EMS and 24 h) for “Shannong No. 5”. After treated by 1% EMS for 24 h, 541 M1 plants were grown in greenhouse for phenotype investiga...

Determination of the mechanisms underlying the growth of tungsten fuzz is an important step towards mitigation of fuzz formation. Nanostructured tungsten was produced on resistively heated tungsten wires in a helicon plasma source (maximum flux of 2.5× 1021 m−2 s−1). Asymmetry in the setup allows for investigation of temperature and flux effects in a single sample. An effort at elucidating the ...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is capable of twitching, swimming, and swarming motility. The latter form of translocation occurs on semisolid surfaces, requires functional flagella and biosurfactant production, and results in complex motility patterns. From the point of inoculation, bacteria migrate as defined groups, referred to as tendrils, moving in a coordinated manner capable of sensing and respon...

Cucurbitaceae contain c. 800 species in 130 genera and are among the economically most important families of plants. We inferred their phylogeny based on chloroplast DNA sequences from two genes, one intron, and two spacers (rbcL, matK, trnL, trnL-trnF, rpl20-rps12) obtained for 171 species in 123 genera. Molecular data weakly support the traditional subfamilies Cucurbitoideae (111 genera) and ...

Expansins are cell-wall-localized proteins that induce loosening of isolated plant cell walls in vitro in a pH-dependent manner, but exhibit no detectable hydrolase or transglycosylase activity. Three putative expansin cDNAs, Vlexp1, Vlexp2, and Vlexp3 were isolated from a cDNA library made from mature berries of the Kyoho grape. Expression profiles of the 3 genes were analyzed throughout berry...

Type specimens are permanently preserved biological specimens that fix the usage of species names. This method became widespread from 1935 onwards and is now obligatory. We used DNA sequencing of types and more recent collections of wild and cultivated melons to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the genus Citrullus and the correct names for its species. We discovered that the type specime...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits swarming motility on 0.5 to 1% agar plates in the presence of specific carbon and nitrogen sources. We have found that PAO1 double mutants expressing neither flagella nor type IV pili (fliC pilA) display sliding motility under the same conditions. Sliding motility was inhibited when type IV pilus expression was restored; like swarming motility, it also decreased ...

Alamethicin (ALA), a voltage-gated, ion channel-forming peptide mixture from Trichoderma viride, is a potent elicitor of the biosynthesis of volatile compounds in lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus). Unlike elicitation with jasmonic acid or herbivore damage, the blend of substances emitted comprises only the two homoterpenes, 4,11-dimethylnona-1,3,7-triene and 4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraen...

Ellagic acid is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound present in pomegranate plants, strawberries, grapes, apples, tendril blueberries, blackberries and walnuts. Ellagic acid exhibits a variety of effects such as anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, immune regulatory and anti-tumor effects (Chen et al., 2011). In particular, ellagic acid has an inhibitory effect on many tumors, and is curre...

Pitcher plant, Nepenthes spp., is one of the carnivorous plants, which produces unique pitcher structure from the tip of leaf tendril for trapping and digestion of insect prey to acquire nutrients at habitats that are deprived of nitrogen. Nepenthes ampullaria is special when compared with other pitcher plants as it has evolved a detritivore habit for the acquisition of nutrients from leaf litt...